How to Remove Ear Wax (the Safe Way!)

It's yellow, it's gooey and sometimes it's so uncomfortable, you just want to abandon all social propriety and stick your finger in your ear to pry it out. Although ear wax is annoying, you shouldn't do this, says Dr. Navin C. Mehta, surgeon director at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in New York City.

There are a lot of misconceptions about how to get rid of the sticky stuff, which may be why searches for “ear wax removal” on Yahoo! have increased by 27 percent since last December.

However, Q-tips, bobby pins and, yes, your finger, only push the wax back in, Dr. Mehta says. Inserting any solid object into your ear can scratch the canal and up your risk for outer-ear infections.

Instead, try hydrogen peroxide — what Dr. Mehta recommends to his patients who have ear-wax buildup. Lie on your side and insert about three drops into your ear once a week. “When it comes in contact with the wax, the wax becomes soft and it just drains out,” Dr. Mehta says. You can snag a large bottle over the counter for about $2-$3 at your local convenience store.

If that doesn’t work, some doctors can irrigate your ear with a syringe, aiming water into the ear canal and washing out the wax. Dr. Richard Goldberg, a family physician in New York City, says he does this for patients whose ears are clogged with wax.

Doctors can also use a cerumen spoon to pick out the wax, but Dr. Goldberg said you shouldn’t do this at home, echoing Dr. Mehta’s recommendation not to insert anything solid into your ear.

Ear wax happens. But when it comes to removing it, both doctors gave the same advice: “Don’t put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.”